Combined cutting and slitting device



Oct. 31, 1933- H. A. ADDISON EF AL COMBINED CUTTING AND SLI'I'TINGDEVICE Filed June 20. 1932 whj M 0 W? y T0 E mfl m Var 0 mg TM 55 5 VWV. B

Patented Oct. 31, 1933 TES UNITED STA 7 1,932,375 7 r COMBINED CUTTINGAND SLI'ITING DEVICE Herbert A. Addison and Ernest T. Tyren, Durham, N.0., assignors to The American Tobacco Company, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New Jersey Application June 20, 1932. Serial no. 618,370

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to a combined cutting and slitting device for usein severing strips or sheets of material and simultaneously making aslit in the material at one of the edges formed by the severing of thestrip or sheet.

Devices embodying the invention are especially useful in cuttingwrapping materials such as cellophane, glassine, or other paperscommonly used in wrapping various kinds of merchandise. As anillustration, cigarettes are generally sold in packages or cartonsenclosed in a cellophane wrapper folded upon itself at the ends of thepackage and with the folds secured upon each other by an adhesive so asto tightly seal the package and preserve the moisture content. of thetobacco. It is the general custom among cigarette smokers to open thepackage by tearing off only a part of the outer wrapper folds at oneside of the top; but with the top fold tightly sealed to the others itis diflicult to catch'hold of the rather slippery wrapping material suchas cellophane and tear it along the desired lines. To facilitate openingcigarette packages in the manner speci- -fied the top fold is generallyprovided with a slit extending from its edge whereby the user may morereadily tear the wrapper in desired manner and evenly with the slitaiTording-a guide and start to the tearing of the folds.

The wrappers for the individual packages are cut from a strip of thewrapping material and the edge of the wrapper which is provided with theslit is fed to the wrapping machine in such a manner that when thepackage is wrapped; the top fold of the wrapper will be positioned withthe slit exposed at the top of the package so that a portion of the topfold, which is generally similar to a flap, may be grasped while theother portion is held down to facilitate opening of the package at onecorner or end of the top.

With the foregoing explanation in mind the objects of the presentinvention are to provide a de-,

vice for severing the strip with means to form the slits in the properedges of individual wrappers.

More specifically the objects of the invention include the provision ofa combined severing and slitting device either of the scissors orguillotine type wherein cooperating severing members are arranged forrelative movement to sever the strip at predetermined intervals and toprovide in association with one of the members a slitting implement,such as a knife blade having a cutting edge so positioned as to form aslit in each wrapper cut from the strip at a predetermined point on anedge of the wrapper formed by the severing members, the slit being madesimultaneously (Cl,v 164-41) Fig. l is a side elevation of a scissorstype of severing device with the slitting implement applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1 with a portionof the slitting implement mounting broken away;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; a r

Fig. 4. is a'perspective view of the sheet of wrapping material showingthe slit formed in'one edge thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a package wrapped in the sheet shown inFig. l with the slit disposed at the top of the package to facilitateopening.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 6 designates a cutting bladepivotally connected to an- 8 other cutting blade "1, the pivotalconnection being made through the shaft 8 which projects from the casing9 and the outer end of which is screw threadedto receive the nut 10,whereby the blades may be forced together for proper cutting relation,In the embodiment of the invention shown, the blade 6 has a portionprojecting beyond pivot 8 as indicated at 11 for connection of the nutand bolt 13 whereby the blade 5 will be oscillated byreciprocatingmovement of the link or crank 12 which in turn is actuatedby any suitable mechanism not shown. The strip 14 is fed between theblades preferably across the top or cutting edge of the blade '1 so thatas the blade 6 is oscillated to efiect movement of its cutting edge 15across the cutting edge of the blade '7, the strip 14 will be severed atregular intervals to form individual wrappers of predetermined size suchas illustrated in Fig. 4 and designated by the numeral 16.

The wrapper 16 is shown as being provided with a slit 17 extendinginwardly from one of its edges, which edge is formed by the severing ofthe strip between the blades 6 and 7, and the witha link or otheractuating part 12 as by means slit is preferably located centrally onsaid edge between the sides of the wrapper so that when the wrapper isapplied to the package as shown in Fig. 5, the slit 17 will be disposedat the center of the top fold 18 which may project slightly beyond thefront or back of the package to form a flap, whereby the wrapper may bemore readily grasped to tear the same in the direction of the slit ashereinbefore described.

The wrapper shown in Fig. 4, and which has been described above, has theslit 1'? formed therein simultaneously with the severing of the strip bythe cutting edge 19 of the implement or blade 20 which is shown indetail in Fig. 3 as including a shank 21 to extend through a slot 22 inthe block 23 rigidly secured to the blade 6 adjacent its cutting edge15. As is usual in the scissors type of cutter, the cutting edge 15 isinclined and the lower end 24 of the implement 20 is formed to abutagainst the tapered edge of the blade 6 so that when the blade isinserted into the housing 23 by placing the shank 21 in the slot 22 andmoving the blade upwardly, the blade will be properly positioned whenthe end 24 contacts the tapered edge of the blade 6, at which time theset screw 25 which is mounted through a screw threaded opening in oneend of the block 23 is tightened to clamp the implement 20 in place. Theblock 23 and implement 20 are positioned on the blade relative to thestrip 14 to bring the cutting edge 19 of the blade at the approximatetransverse center of the strip when the blade 6 oscillates to bring thecutting edge 15 past the cutting edge of the blade '7 to sever thestrip. It will be noted that the cutting edge 19 of the blade isinclined and terminates in a point 26 at its lower end and below thecutting edge of the blade 6.

The operation of the device is as follows: With the strip of material 14being fed between the blades 6 and '7, the same will be severed atregular intervals when the blade 6 is oscillated to bring the cuttingedge 15 into cutting relation with or across the cutting edge of theblade '7. In Fig. 1, the dot and dash representations of the blade 6indicates its position at the time that the point 26 of the cutting edge19 of implement 20 is substantially even with the cutting edge of theblade '7. At this time only a slight part of the strip 14 has beensevered by the blades and as the blade 6 continues to move down thatportion of the strip 14 between the point indicated by A in Fig. l andthe implement 20 will be progressively severed at the same time that thecutting blade is forming a slit in the material, the formation of theslit being'completed at substantially the same time that approximatelyone-half of the severing of the strip has been completed, the remainderof the strip being severed after the slit 1'? has been formed by theslitting edge 19 of the implement 20. It will thus be seen that theslits are formed in the individual wrappers simultaneously with theformation of the wrappers by the cutting edges of the blades 6 and 7 andin such a manner that the material, which is usually very thin, is notripped er tom but rather is provided with a very clearly defined andneat slit 17.

It should be obvious from the foregoing, that the blade 20 may bereadily removed for sharpening or replacement and will always occupy thesame position when replaced, and will be maintained in such positionsimply by tightening of the screw 25, the removal being effected byloosening the screw 25 and withdrawing the shank 21 from the slot 22.

It should be obvious also that the invention may be applied to cuttingdevices of the guillotine type by positioning the block or knifemounting at the proper place to form the slits in the sheets formed bythe guillotine device when the knife is inserted. We therefore wish tobe understood as not limiting the invention to application to cutters ofthe scissors type such as shown for the purposes of illustration.

We claim:

1. In combination with a blade having a cutting edge, an implementhaving a knife edge, and a mounting on the blade intermediate its endsfor said implement to position said implement with its knife edge in aplane intersecting the plane of the cutting edge of the blade, and meansdetachably securing said implement to said mounting.

2. In combination with a blade having a cutting edge, an implementhaving a knife edge inclined relative to the blade, a mounting on theblade for saidimplement to position the implement with its knife edge ina plane intersecting the plane of the cutting edge of the blade and withone end of the knife edge located beyond the cutting edge of the bladeand substantially in alinement therewith, and means detachably securingsaid implement to said mounting with its knife edge in said position.

3. A' device of thecharacter described comprising relatively moveableblades having c0- .operating cutting edges, an implement on one of saidblades intermediate the ends of its cutting .edge and having a knifeedge terminating at one end substantially in alinement with said cuttingedges and arranged in a plane intersecting the plane of the cuttingedges, and means detachably securing said implement to said blade withits knife edge in said position.

HERBERT A. ADDISON.

ERNEST T. TYREN.

